Jobey Wayne Thomas (born March 24, 1980) is an American retired

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who competed for a number of professional clubs, mostly in Italy, with a short but successful spell in Portuguese basketball. In his

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

career, Thomas holds the

Charlotte 49ers The Charlotte 49ers are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina. The 49ers compete at the Nati ...

record for three-pointers made and games played.

Career

Born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

, Thomas played basketball at Independence High School. He helped lead Independence to the 1997 North Carolina 4A state championship as a junior and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. One of the nations top guard recruits, he signed to play college basketball for the

in Division I NCAA, under Bobby Lutz. He ended his college career for Charlotte with then records for three-pointers made, games, consecutive games (130) and starts and single-season record for three-pointers (110), plus Conference USA records for career three-pointers made, single-season three-pointers made and single-season three-pointers in league games (60), while averaging 13.4 points per game. He took part in ESPN's Three-Point Shooting Contest on 24 March 2002, and on the 2002 NBA Pre-Draft summer camp in Chicago. After not being drafted, he moved to Europe and joined Queluz in the

Portuguese Basketball League The Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol (), also known as Liga Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's professional club basketball league in Portugal. History From the 2008–09 season onward, the competition has been again organised by t ...

, playing only 18 games with an average of 24 points per game. He soon joined the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

in Italy, and in a five-year period, Thomas average more than 17 points per game in 163 games, representing three different teams. After arriving at

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

in 2008, he made his debut in European competitions, playing the

2008–09 Euroleague The 2008–09 Euroleague was the 9th season of the professional basketball competition for elite clubs throughout Europe, organised by Euroleague Basketball Company, and it was the 52nd season of the premier competition for European men's clubs ...

, averaging 12.1 points per game, helping Milano reach the Top 16 stage. He continued his globetrotter career and moved clubs again, first at

Pallacanestro Varese Pallacanestro Varese, also called by its current sponsor's name, the Openjobmetis Varese, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Varese, Lombardy. Founded in 1945, the team plays in the Italian basketball league system, Italian first ...

and then at

Treviso Basket Universo Treviso Basket (diminutive TvB), known for sponsorship reasons as NutriBullet Treviso, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Treviso, Veneto. Founded in 2012, it plays in the Italian basketball first division Lega Basket Se ...

, where he returned to European basket, playing the 2011–12 Eurocup and reaching the Top 16 with the ''Venetian'' team. After two more short stints in more Italy, Thomas returned to Portugal in August 2013, to play for Benfica, adding nine titles in two seasons, and competing in the

2014–15 EuroChallenge The 2014–15 EuroChallenge was the 12th and last edition of Europe's third-tier level transnational competition for men's professional basketball clubs. The winner and the runner-up of this competition earned a place at the group stage of next ...

. On 1 June 2015, the 35-year-old announced his retirement from basketball.

Honors

;Benfica * Portuguese League: 2013–14, 2014–15 *

Portuguese Cup Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

: 2013–14, 2014–15 * League Cup / Hugo dos Santos Cup: 2013–14, 2014–15 * Portuguese Supercup: 2013, 2014 *

António Pratas Trophy The Troféu António Pratas (English language, English: ''António Pratas Trophy'') is an annual cup competition for Portuguese basketball teams organized by the Portuguese Basketball Federation. Created in 2007 to honour António Pratas, its first ...

: 2014

References

External links

Sports-reference profileEurobasket profile
1980 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Portugal Basketball players from Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte 49ers men's basketball players C.A. Queluz players Olimpia Milano players Pallacanestro Varese players Pallacanestro Treviso players Shooting guards S.L. Benfica basketball players American men's basketball players {{1980s-US-basketball-bio-stub